China says drought in wheat belt 'grim'

China is the world’s largest wheat—growing nation but its wheat belt has gotten virtually no precipitation since October. Expected shortages of the crop in China have already pushed up global prices for the commodity.

February 14, 2011 03:23 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 09:29 pm IST - BEIJING

Chinese farmers water a dried up plot of wheat near Huaibei city in central China's Anhui province. File photo: AP.

Chinese farmers water a dried up plot of wheat near Huaibei city in central China's Anhui province. File photo: AP.

Provinces in China’s severely parched northeast have been ordered to step up emergency irrigation as part of a $1 billion effort to minimize the loss of crucial wheat crops.

China is the world’s largest wheat—growing nation but its wheat belt has gotten virtually no precipitation since October. Expected shortages of the crop in China have already pushed up global prices for the commodity.

The government’s Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said in an online statement late Sunday that the drought situation remained “grim” and urged local officials to dig more wells and carry out other emergency irrigation measures.

They were told to “do everything possible to realize a good summer harvest.”

State media quoted a Ministry of Agriculture official as saying on Sunday that recent light snowfalls were far short of what the area needs.

Ministry expert Yu Zhenwen told the official Xinhua News Agency that the hardest—hit regions needed at least 50 millimeters (two inches) of precipitation but that recent snowfalls amounted to less than 10 millimeters (half an inch).

17 million acres hit by drought

China has already said it plans to spend $1 billion to alleviate the drought, which as of Friday had affected 17 million acres (6.75 million hectares) of crops and left nearly 3 million people short of drinking water.

The U.N.’s food agency has warned the drought is driving up China’s wheat prices, and now the focus is on whether China will buy more from the global market, where prices have risen about 35 percent since mid—November.

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